Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of pest control and pest trap monitoring and, more particularly, to a remote notification electronic rodent trapping system and method having electronic rodent traps with wireless communication capability enabling remote monitoring of trap status.
Description of the Related Art
Rodent trap monitoring has typically required that the user come in close proximity to the trap to determine whether or not a rodent has been dispatched or the trap deactivated. Physically checking rodent traps can be inconvenient, particularly when the traps are located in a barn, attic, basement, crawl space, etc. Trap monitoring can also be very time consuming for users such as professional rodent control companies who place traps at multiple sites and then must physically visit each site on a regular basis to monitor the status of the traps and ensure traps are in an operational-ready state.
Additionally, when electronic animal traps having high voltage killing mechanisms for pests such as mice and rats are being monitored, activation of a trap does not, in all cases, mean that the trap requires servicing because the rodent may have avoided electrocution and escaped. Rearming traps such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,836,999 are very beneficial as these traps are able to automatically rearm if, following a killing cycle, the trap detects an impedance indicating that a rodent is not in the trap. However, these traps still require a user to be in physical proximity to the trap in order to observe visual indicators to determine trap activation status.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method that enables rodent traps to be monitored remotely, eliminating the costly and time consuming task of going on-site to check individual traps to see whether or not they have been activated. A need also exists for a remote monitoring and reporting system and method in which electronic traps with high voltage killing mechanisms that have been activated, but without killing a rodent, do not provide the user with a “false positive” status notification, i.e., a notification that the trap contains a dead rodent when, in fact, the trap may have been activated by an environment condition, such as moisture. It would be further advantageous if traps of this type, following activation and rodent escape, could automatically rearm and continue in an active state without the need for any user action, either proximal or remote, while providing a remote user with a notification of trap activation status only when actually warranted.